Tag: rock

Power Ballad (2025) Review

On By troubledproductionsIn ReviewLeave a comment

Quick synopsis: Wedding singer Rick Power (Paul Rudd) strikes up an unlikely friendship with singer Danny Wilson, who responds to Rick’s kindness by stealing one of his songs.

This is a difficult review to write. Not because I’m uncertain how I felt about the film. But because I used a bunch of music puns in my review of Tuner. So what am I supposed to do now? Put effort in? But I don’t wanna!

That’s unfair. Truthfully, outside of “music is a thing”, there are almost no similarities between Power Ballad and Tuner. Tuner is built around the story; Power Ballad is built around the people. From the trailer/plot synopsis, you may assume there’s more to it, that there’s no way to stretch that concept out to 90 minutes, and there must be a hidden twist. There’s not. The story really is that simple. Even the ending will be fairly obvious to anybody who is paying attention. I know someone who regularly falls asleep during films, and even she messaged me to say she guessed the ending (not during the film, she’s tired, not rude). The only thing that surprised me was how Irish the film was. Now I know it was directed by John Carney, which makes sense. But everything in the trailer made it look like it was going to be an American-focused story. Carney’s previous movies include:

  • Once (2007). Two musicians fall in love with each other (won the Academy Award for Best Original Song)
  • Begin Again (2013). A singer-songwriter collaborates with a record company executive to release an album
  • Sing Street (2013). A guy forms a band to impress a girl.
  • Flora and Son (2023), A woman learns guitar.

Yes, those are gross oversimplifications of those movies. But it demonstrates my point: he’s found a niche (music-based dramatic comedy), and he’s stuck to it. Fair play to him, he’s really good at it, and he’s great at music. The song in Power Ballad genuinely feels like the kind of song that would blow up. I kind of wish I could have seen more of Danny’s music. It’s hard to gauge how different it is from the rest of his music, as we don’t have that much to compare him to. Power Ballad also feels slightly inconsistent regarding how famous he is. Is he someone the gossip magazines and bloggers constantly talk about, or is he forgotten? It seems to be the first one, but there are too many moments which treat it as the second one. I’d also have liked to have seen more of Rick’s music career. There aren’t enough details about his former band and bandmates. Do they dislike him for jeopardising their career? Did the fact that Rick left cause a power imbalance which led to the destruction of the band? Are they even still alive? This kind of world-building would have really helped flesh out the narrative, and would have meant they could have deleted some of the moments where it feels like the wheels are spinning, but nothing is moving forward.

That paragraph may make it seem like this is a negative review. But I actually really liked Power Ballad. It’s very sweet. There are moments of pure joy and loveliness. The moment where Danny joins the wedding band on stage is incredibly charming; the friendship between Rick and Danny that comes from this moment is key to Power Ballad working. Mainly because it means the betrayal hits harder than it would otherwise. Danny’s character is interesting. On the surface, he’s confident, but the longer the film goes on, the more the real him steps forward: he’s a coward; that’s what drives his choices. Yes, he makes some very stupid choices, but they are all consistent with his character. And you can just see his entire sense of self deflate when Danny tells him the background of the song. Nick Jonas is perfectly cast, adding a bit of metaness to the whole thing. Paul Rudd goes more angry and insane than he normally does, and he does it well.

In summary, nowhere near the best film of the year, but still absolutely delightful and well worth a watch. Although the main character’s full name being “Rick Power” is kinda stupid.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) Review

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Quick Synopsis: Many years after the original “documentary”, the band returns for a comeback gig.

I’m not actually sure if I’ve seen the first movie or if I’ve just seen so many clips and references to it that my mind recognises it (also in that category; Hitchcock’s Rebecca). So I was in a weird position where I would understand every callback and reference, but I also didn’t need “hey, this is a reference, remember? If not, we’ll flashback anyway” as was done in Happy Gil-More More More How Do You Like It, How Do You Like It.

Because of that, I may not be the best person to review this, caught in the strange medium between knowing nothing and knowing something. Even with that, I liked it. You can tell it’s highly improvised, but only really if you’re looking for it. It’s not 2010’s SNL improv, where everyone is so desperate to get their own shit in that they trample over everyone elses dialogue and extend their bits with “zany” moments (for an example of this; Kate McKinnon in Ghostbusters, I love her, think she’s hilarious, but there are multiple times where the movie stops dead so she can get her shtick in). This is improv where everybody knows their character so well that they know how to respond to any situation believably. The core cast know their roles, and all are perfectly willing to set up jokes rather than take the laughs themselves.

Not everybody returns in a big way. Fran Drescher, Paul Schaffer, and June Chadwick return, but only really as cameos. Tony Hendra, who played their manager Ian in the original, does not return, on account of being dead. That’s probably for the best, as in 2004, his daughter submitted a piece to the New York Times that said that he sexually assaulted her as a child. The allegations were never fully investigated, so they weren’t disproven, which would have caused a cloud to hang over this picture and would make me kind of uncomfortable to watch it and laugh with him.

How about the new additions? They slot in perfectly. You’d never guess this was Valerie Franco’s first acting role; she doesn’t seem out of place at all. Anybody who has seen The Thick Of It knows how good Chris Addison can be. The way his character disappears near the end is sort of narratively unsatisfying, though.

Now’s the best time to mention it; the narrative isn’t great. Because it’s SO dependent on the core cast, we don’t see much of the outside world. The fact that the gig is sold out kind of indicates they have fans, and the fact that Elton John and Paul McCartney want to work with them shows they’re respected in the music industry, but the band are still kind of seen as jokes when they talk to each other. We needed more stuff away from the band, conversations with music journalists, etc, talking about the band’s impact. Or even quick social media snapshots of how people are reacting. As real as the band feels at times, the film could do a better job of making us believe. Obviously, we know they’re a fake band, and the film doesn’t do a good enough job of making us forget that.

That’s a small issue, though. This is a hilarious film. The screening I was in wasn’t the biggest, but it got a good reaction. It reminded me of going to a gig in a small venue that’s not sold out, the kind of attendance where there’s not even a queue at the bar. But everybody at that gig is IN, having the time of their life, dancing and singing along all night with the energy of thousands. Thats what watching this was like; you could probably feed everybody there with a mid-size BBQ, but those minimal numbers made noise. They laughed, they murmured when they realised certain things were about to happen, and every single one stayed through the credits. It’s not a “laugh every minute” film, but the laughs that are there are great.